Far From Home
by DerFluffy
Summary: A secret emergency signal is answered by a man changed by struggle and trials unimaginable to those in the Vault. Just who did Amata end up calling back home?
1. Called Home

Night fell on Megaton just like it did every day, wrapping the settlement in a blanket of darkness and whatever passed for a sense of security in the dangerous Wasteland. Jayck and Fawkes both sat at the table inside the Wanderer's house, listening quietly to the radio playing from his Pip-Boy. Jayck had been tuning into GNR when he noticed another signal on his readout and had turned it on out of curiosity. After the third time the message repeated, he stood up from the table with a determined look. Dogmeat raised his head from where he'd been eating in the kitchen and wagged his tail expectantly.

"I'm going back. If they need me…if Amada needs me, then I have to," he said. His companion nodded in agreement.

"And myself? Should I accompany you, my friend?" Fawkes asked. The super mutant was by far intelligent enough to know the answer, but he couldn't help but ask anyway.

"Sorry, Fawkes, there's just no telling how they'd react. They don't even know what super mutants are. We didn't know anything about what's out here when the door was sealed," Jayck shook his head. "No, I need to do this alone. That means you too, boy." Dogmeat whimpered but quickly found comfort in the Brahmin steak in his bowl.

Jayck walked over to the lockers and opened them, wondering what he'd need when he got there. " _Intimidation would definitely help. Also, armor never hurts,_ " he thought, deciding on the power armor standing to the side. " _Close quarters, but enough open space in the trip to warrant range…both it is,_ " he took out the repeater, beautifully crafted from sturdy wood and with an intricate gold design etched into the metal. He also took out a plasma pistol he'd repaired a long time ago that he had yet to use. He checked the wires and couplings before giving it an approving nod and fetching sufficient ammo for both weapons. He sighed and began the arduous process of slipping into the power armor.

"Will you be leaving tonight then?" Fawkes asked slowly. Jack gasped for air as he forced his head through the top of the armor. He still had a little work to do to finish custom fitting it. He set about fastening the many clasps that held the suit together.

"I will. I wouldn't be able to sleep if I stayed, anyway. Not now that I know they might be in trouble." The pistons in the legs of the suit hissed to life as power surged through them. The suit now thrummed with energy, waiting for its command to move. Jayck fastened the repeater to his back and the pistol to his right leg. His left leg was home to a wicked blade he'd found in his travels. It was sheathed in a rugged work of leather and steel Jayck had wound up with after his failed attempts at a proper sheathe. Still, he kept it and the blade as a sort of deadly good luck charm. More than once he'd had to resort to using it when words and guns had failed.

"I understand. Should we wait here or at the museum?" the super mutant asked the armored figure before him. The black metal of the plates was highlighted with red streaks, the markings of the Outcasts that had gifted his friend the armor. Even without the helmet on, Jayck was an imposing figure when he had set his mind to something.

"You know you're free to do as you like, Fawkes. My home is always open to you, or I could find you later," Jayck replied. Fawkes looked around the house and thought a moment.

"I think I'll stay here a while. Maybe see if that Moira has anything new I could read," he said hopefully. Jayck smiled at the thought. Moira was one of the few people in Megaton who didn't judge Fawkes for being what he was and probably the only one that seemed to genuinely enjoy his company. He walked over to where Dogmeat was now sleeping happily, having eaten his fill.

"I'll be back soon, boy. Be good for Fawkes, you hear me?" he asked, kneeling and patting the German shepherd with a gauntleted hand. Dogmeat didn't stir, but his tail wagged freely. Jayck put a hand on his leg and pushed himself up, something that was never easy for him when he was wearing full armor. He walked back to the table and finished the last of his Nuka-Cola from dinner.

"I'll see you soon as well, my friend," he told Fawkes with a nod. The super mutant nodded solemnly in reply. "Safe travels to you."

Jayck put the bottle down and pushed open the door. It was never cold in the Capital Wasteland, but the night air was definitely cooler. A stern breeze swirled around inside the walls of the city as he walked the short distance to the entrance of Megaton, nodding to Stockholm up in his perch atop the gates. He donned his helmet, pushed open the doors and made his way out into the wastes as he had countless times now, but this time was different. This time, he was going home.


	2. Homecoming

Dirt crunched under the weight of Jayck's armor as he stepped outside the gates of Megaton. He nodded to the traders settling down for the night and continued down the path towards Springvale, the remnants of a small, desolate town that lay between Megaton and the door to Vault 101. Jayck kept his head on a swivel, constantly watching for movement in the moonlight night, though the most dangerous thing in these parts recently were the bandits he'd cleared out of the old school. Shuddering from the memories of the horrors he'd seen in those dark halls, he drew his repeater, thumbed the safety off, and trudged on.

The wind blew through the broken boards that made up most of the houses in Springvale, causing the ancient wood to creak and groan. Jayck looked down at his Pip-Boy and tuned the dial until it found the GNR signal.

"Hey everybody, this is Three Dog, your friendly neighborhood disc jockey. What's a disc? Hell if I know, but I'm gonna keep talking anyway," came the familiar recorded voice over the radio in Jayck's helmet. It was always comforting to listen to Three Dog go on about the good fight, especially when he was outside alone at night.

Leaving Springvale behind him, Jayck looked up at the hills that held the entrance to his home for the first nineteen years of his life. He wasn't sure how long it'd been since he left, but he certainly felt older. He flipped the repeater's safety on, holstered the gun and climbed the narrow path leading up to the Vault to the tune of a man crooning about the happy times of the past.

It didn't take long to find the rickety wooden door that hid the Vault entrance. Jayck pulled the door open, despite the rusty squeals of protest from the hinges. He stepped inside, flipped on the light on his Pip-Boy, and was once again startled by the skeleton against the wall, just as he had been the night he fled. Something in the back of Jayck's mind bristled at the state of the packed dirt floor. There shouldn't have been near that many prints from just him and his father. He continued forward slowly and stopped in front of the control panel for the door. Took a deep breath and keyed in the secret passcode from the radio signal, "A-M-A-T-A".

Jayck was glad his helmet has noise cancelling capabilities, because even with them, the door was unbearably loud as steel ground on steel and screamed in anger at being forced to move. He turned off both the light and radio and stepped under the massive door suspended on a magnetic arm, into the mouth of Vault 101. He drew his plasma pistol out of habit as he moved up the stairs to the door, silently praying he wouldn't have to use it.

As Jayck just reached the top of the stairs, the door suddenly burst open and a frightened man wearing a Vault Tech Security Suit burst out, shakily aiming a pistol.

"Stop! I don't know how you got in here, but I can't let you in!" he shouted with false bravado. Jayck snapped up his pistol out of reflex but held his fire.

"Gomez?" his voice came from the helmet's speakers. "Officer Herman Gomez?" The man stopped in his tracks and lowered his pistol slightly.

"How do you…wait, I know that voice…Jayck?" Gomez asked in amazement. "Is that really you in there?"

Jayck held up his pistol in his right hand with his left hand in the air. "Yes it is." Gomez shook his head, still not able to believe that the inexperienced kid who had left the Vault that night had not only survived, but also returned armed to the teeth as some sort of armored warrior.

"What…what are you doing here?" Gomez finally got out. He holstered his pistol and motioned for Jayck to follow him inside the door. They walked into the room and Gomez shut the door behind them before leaning on it and looking at Jayck expectantly. The Wanderer took off his helmet and breathed in the familiar Vault air. It felt dry and stale in his lungs compared to being outside.

"I heard an emergency message over the radio and came as soon as I could," he said. Gomez scratched his head, stopping when he realized he was still wearing his guard helmet.

"Now who would've sent…ah, Amata. She always was a clever one," said the officer. "I wouldn't go around telling people about that though. It could get her in a world of trouble with things the way they are down here." Jayck's posture stiffened noticeably.

"Just what _is_ going on down here?" he asked.

"Well…it all started the night you and your dad skipped out the front door. In the dark and chaos with the bullets and the bugs… we lost a lot of people, Jayck. After the smoke cleared, the Overseer cracked down on everyone real hard. Everything was stricter than it'd ever been. Then the rebels started acting up with the goal of opening the Vault, headed by the Overseer's daughter no less. You know how stubborn she can be," Gomez chuckled humorlessly. He looked up at the armor-clad young man before him. "And now it seems she's called in the cavalry."

Jack stood grim-faced as he tried to take in what he'd heard. He looked down at his hands, at the battered black and red metal of his helmet and sighed, his shoulder plates drooping slightly.

"Can you take me to her?"

* * *

"Hey Amata, did you hear that?" Butch asked, holding his switchblade at the ready and looking up at the dimly lit, metal ceiling. He and the other rebels were looking at each other, unsure of what to make of the noise. Moments before, a low rumble and a muffled screech had echoed through every hallway of the Vault, frightening them all.

"Yeah, I heard it," Amata answered, it finally dawning on her the only other time she'd heard that sound. It was a night that felt like it was years ago. Filled with the acrid smells of smoke and screams and death. She remembered the one life she'd managed to save during the chaos and wondered if he could have actually come back to return the favor when they needed him most.

"Come on," she commanded. "We have work to do."


	3. House Call

Jayck worked his way through the dim metal hallways towards the atrium of Vault 101. Officer Gomez had declined to take him to Amata, but had told him that she and the other rebels were holed up in the old clinic. The normally steely grey walls were tinted an unearthly green through the visor of Jayck's helmet. He couldn't help but laugh under his breath when he saw a sign whose original message was illegible under the massive green "FUCK YOU" covering it in what appeared to be green spray paint. Broken light fixtures flickered on and off above him.

He moved up to the door leading to the upper levels and pushed it open. Voices floated down the hallway as he stepped through and closed the door behind him as quietly as he could. As he crept forward, he saw a group of three armed security officers standing outside the door straight ahead that let to the cafeteria and eventually to the clinic. Given their choice of route, Jayck guessed that the rebels had blocked off the other entrances to the clinic hallway. " _Not a bad idea_ ," he thought as he reached in his pack and took out and activated a Stealth Boy. He was now invisible in the flickering lights of the atrium as he prowled toward the officers, but he still had to take care not to make any noise. He recognized Chief Officer Hannon, Officer Wilkins, and Officer Kendall when he was closer.

"You two ready for this?" Chief Hannon asked the others. "Once we start, there's no going back until there's a new overseer in place." Jayck's blood ran cold. Were they staging a coup? If so, why were they headed toward the clinic and not the Overseer's office? He crouched behind an upturned table and peeked around, continuing to listen in.

"Yes, Chief," the two officers replied. "What are we going to do about Taylor?" asked Wilkins.

"We'll deal with him after we get these rebels under control," Hannon said ruthlessly. They drew their pistols and batons and opened the door. Jayck barely managed to sprint through behind them, but stopped short when Wilkins looked back up the stairs at where he was standing. Jayck knew he was still invisible, but also knew he must've made plenty of racket in his haste.

Wilkins squinted his eyes for a closer look just as the lights in the atrium flickered out. Jayck immediately crouched and pressed himself against the wall, careful not to make any more noise. Before the officer could move up to investigate the darkness, Hannon hissed from the landing below "Get down here, Wilkins!"

Jayck let out the breath he had been holding and continued down the stairs after them, careful to keep his distance now. The two officers were incredibly high-strung and jumped at nearly every noise they heard as they followed Chief Hannon through what was left of the cafeteria . Plates, cups, and silverware were strewn about the place and the booths and tables sat shoved to various odd angles. Jayck waited for them to clear a quiet path for him before following closely in their footsteps to stay as quiet as possible. He crept behind them and ducked into the hallway to his left when they reached the stairway that led up to the clinic. Jayck suddenly felt a sinking feeling in his gut when he saw that his fears had been right. The guards were really about to lead an all-out assault on the rebels. He crouched, frozen in horror as they moved up the stairs, only moving forward in a trance when they had reached the next landing.

" _Of course it wouldn't be over until there was a new Overseer, Amata's father would never risk hurting his own daughter_ ," Jayck thought. He heard the unmistakable voice of Butch DeLoria come down the stairs.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing here? You think you can take on the Tunnel Snakes, man? Come on, man, we !" he choked on a scream as the report of two gunshots echoed down the hall followed by the _thud_ of a body hitting the ground. Jayck sprinted up the stairs, drawing his jagged knife as he ran.

He reached the top of the landing to see Butch on the ground, spasming and clutching his chest. The bullet wound was quickly seeping crimson through his fingers and blood was beginning to bubble in his mouth. Chief Hannon held his pistol at the ready while the other two looked on in horror, the reality of what they had agreed to do dawning on them.

"I always hated your attitude," Hannon growled as he stepped forward to finish what he'd started. Suddenly, a girl rushed out from the clinic and looked down at the floor. Amata screamed when she saw the blood pooling around Butch, true terror showing in her eyes when she looked up at the three officers. Jayck's felt his adrenaline kick in as it always did when he charged into a fight.

"HANNON!" he bellowed, bringing his knife around in a sideways arc towards the Chief's chest. Surprised by the shout and astonished by the black armored figure that had materialized beside him, it was only instinct that saved Hannon from being disemboweled on the spot. Instead, he managed to parry the wide thrust with his gun, although the force of the impact still threw him against the wall. The wind rushed out of his chest as his back made impact, and his pistol clattered to the floor. The chief doubled over trying to catch his breath. Jayck took the opportunity to grab him by the neck and hold him up against the wall until his feet were off the floor. Jayck's power armor hissed as his fingers closed around the Chief's throat. Wilkins and Kendall saw their chance to run and took it, fleeing back down the stairs. Jayck stepped forward until he was inches from Hannon, letting the Chief grasp at his arm while he gasped for air.

"You will answer for this later," Jayck seethed, the venom in his voice clear even through the helmet's speakers. Hannon's eyes rolled up and his head fell to the side as he lapsed into unconsciousness. Jayck lowered him until his feet touched the ground, before letting him crumple to the floor out of spite. He looked up to see Amata was staring at him with the same horror that she had at the guards. That alone hurt Jayck more than any wound he'd suffered in the Wasteland, but he could hardly blame her. Their own security force had shot her friend and suddenly a large, blade-wielding warrior appears and attacks the officers with superhuman strength? How could she not be afraid after witnessing that? Butch had stopped moving and was now only gasping for air through the ruddy froth.

Jayck sheathed his knife and knelt down, scooping up Butch in his arms and moving towards his father's operating room. Amata stood frozen in place until Jayck spoke.

"Amata, I'm going to need your help." She shook her head as if shaking off a dream before asking quietly, "Jayck?"

"Yes, it's me. And I'll explain everything later, but right now I need to save Butch," he said, moving into the waiting room. He could see the floating form of Andy through the operating room window and wondered what the hell the Mister Handy unit was doing there. The robot had always been worrying clumsy with his sharper tools.

"Amata, can you open the door for me?" Jayck asked, stopping in front of the entry. Blood from Butch's chest was running down his armor and beginning to pool on the floor. She quickly stepped up to the panel and keyed it open. Andy turned to greet the newcomers.

"Ah, hello Miss Amata!" the robot shouted gleefully with a celebratory spin. "Bringing me another patient, are you?"

"Other...patient?" Jayck wondered aloud, looking at the dried blood covering both the table and Andy's various tools.

"Miss Armstrong," Amata said quietly. "She got hurt during the chaos and Andy...tried to help. It didn't end well." She motioned towards a form laying on the ground covered with a white sheet, half stained with blood.

"Shit..." Jayck muttered. He shook off the shock and stepped forward, laying Butch down on the table. "Andy, I need you out. Now. Amata, help me get out of this armor." He reached up and popped the seals on his helmet, for once taking it off in one swift move. Amata caught her breath when she saw his face for the first time. He had a jagged scar running from his right temple in a half circle down his cheek that cut in towards his nose and his hair was almost as long as her own. His eyes were what had changed the most though. Gone were the innocent eyes of the boy she knew before, replaced by ones that had seen more than their fare share of the worst the outside has to offer.

"Amata, we need to hurry. Butch doesn't have much time left," he said, turning around and coaching her which clasps he needed help undoing. Finally, he hoisted the top half of his power armor off, wearing only a black long-sleeve underneath. He dropped the armor unceremoniously and pulled his pack off the back of it.

"That'll have to work," Jayck said as he rolled up his sleeves. "Amata, I still need your help, ok? Are you with me?" She nodded stiffly.

"I need you to go out and get all the other rebels and gather them in the waiting room then lock the door. We need to be ready in case they make a second push. And grab Hannon's gun while you're in the hall. Hopefully you won't need to use it, but better safe than sorry."

"What about Hannon?" Amata asked. Jayck cursed under his breath and thought quickly. He reached in his pack and pulled out a syringe with a gauge on it specifying the contents, glanced at the readings to make sure it was the right one, and jabbed it into Butch's thigh. The syringe hissed briefly as it injected its contents and moments later, Butch's entire body shuddered and fell unconscious. Satisfied with his work, Jayck left the table and rifled through a nearby equipment locker and found what he was searching for. He tossed Amata a bundle of leather restraints, "Get some help and tie him down to one of the tables in the waiting room. I'll deal with him later."

"Sure, whatever you say," Amata answered in a daze. She was halfway out the door when she heard Jayck call her name again.

"Last thing, I promise. Would you move one of those curtain racks in front of the window for me?" he asked with a sigh, glancing down at the tools he'd collected next to Butch. "I'd rather nobody else have to see this."


	4. A Brief Respite

It was almost an hour later when Amata looked up from where she was sitting at the sound of the door to the operating room sliding open. She had taken the time to gather her thoughts and process the night's events, and now felt ready to talk to her old friend. Jayck walked out of the operating room, wiping the blood off his arms with a towel. He had removed the lower half of his armor as well, fitting black pants that matched the shirt. He looked over the faces in the room, searching for her, and smiled wearily when he saw her. He walked over and flopped down in a chair beside her before letting out a long sigh. He looked over to Amata and nodded, "He'll be ok."

"Thank goodness," she sighed in relief. "Where did you learn to treat bullet wounds like that? Didn't the G.O.A.T. say you were going to be a chaplain?" Jayck laughed softly.

"Yeah, but I've had more than a few crash courses in medicine now. There was some quick formal training with the Brotherhood as well to make sure I was doing it right," Jayck said before trailing off at Amata's confused look. "Oh, right, you wouldn't know them…sorry, I guess I've gotten used to everyone having at least heard of them."

"Don't apologize. I'll bet you could fill encyclopedias with things you know that we don't," she joked grimly before a more inquisitive look fell across her face. "Which I guess brings up a question. Obviously you got my message or you wouldn't be here, but how much more do you know about what's going on?" Jayck sat up in his chair with a grunt and looked at his friend. She'd also changed since he'd left. She had the determined look of a leader in her eyes, rather than her old childish stubbornness.

"Only the basics," he answered. "Gomez told me what he could about what happened the night my dad and I left, and about the survivors dividing into two opposing groups. One for leaving the vault and the other for staying locked away forever. Then he pointed me your direction so I could ask you the rest." Amata nodded, satisfied.

"Well, that's partially true anyway. We don't all want to leave the vault forever. In fact, Butch was the only one with that mindset," she cast a glance at the operating room window. "We just want the option to have it open so we can interact with the outside world. Once we found out that it had been done in the past, we felt that we should have the same opportunity," she stated. Jayck couldn't help but admire her determination, even after being shaken up so badly just before.

"So why did security attack you?" he asked. "There's no way your father would have condoned that."

"Because Chief Hannon doesn't seem think my father is fit to lead anymore," Amata growled through clenched teeth, her eyes burning as she looked at the unconscious figure across the room strapped to a gurney. "Actually, we would've been caught entirely off guard if Officer Taylor hadn't come to warn us." Jayck looked where she'd gestured to see the old security officer asleep on one of the mattresses to the side of the room, before looking back at Amata with a raised eyebrow.

"Really? He would've been one of my last picks for someone who would help out a rebel cause," he said.

"He doesn't agree with our goals at all, but he's even more opposed to bloodshed, especially cold blooded murder. By the time he learned about Hannon's plan, he could either warn my father and risk being too late to help us or rush here instead." Amata looked at the sleeping figure with softness in her eyes. "And he chose us. At no small risk to himself, especially since it meant double-crossing Hannon. We were almost done hiding everyone in the room at the end of the hall when they showed up. Butch and I were the last two still outside," she trailed off quietly. Jayck shivered when he thought about how close he'd actually been to losing his best friend.

Suddenly, every waking head in the room snapped up at the sound of leather snapping taut and the metal gurney rattling. A raging, feral cry made everyone's hair stand on end. Hannon was awake.

* * *

"What is the meaning of this?!" Alphonse Almovodar raged over his raised pistol at the two security guards. The Overseer's group had run into the sprinting men while going to investigate reports of gunshots in the Vault.

"Overseer, there's someone in the Vault with us!" Officer Kendall panted, hands on his knees trying to catch his breath.

"Something in a black and red metal suit," Officer Wilkins added between breaths. The other Vault residents looked at each other worriedly, wondering what could possibly be going on. The Overseer lowered his pistol and hooked it onto the belt of his blue and yellow jumpsuit, identical to the one worn by all Vault residents.

"And what did this metal intruder do?" he asked down his nose, his arms folded.

"He just appeared out of thin air and shot Chief Hannon," Wilkins answered before Kendall had a chance to. "And now he's alone with the rebels. Probably holding them hostage or something. Maybe he's gonna sell them off to slavers like you warned them would happen." Despite his better judgment about believing such an outlandish tale simply on faith, the Overseer couldn't help but worry at the idea of his daughter in danger.

"Everyone, let's hurry up. And you two are leading the way."


	5. Welcoming Committee

Jayck put his hands on his legs and pushed himself up out of his chair. He walked over to Hannon's gurney, but stopped at the table where he'd dropped the bloody towel. He picked it up and slung it over his shoulder before continuing to Hannon, stopping beside the man so he could see Jayck's face. Hannon froze in confusion as he saw past the wear of the Wasteland and recognized the young man.

"You…what the hell are you doing back here? And where's that other…oh no," Hannon finished as he fit the pieces together.

"Look at me, you worthless son of a bitch," Jayck hissed. He grabbed Hannon's face, covering his mouth with his hand. The Chief's muffled shouts eventually stopped and were replaced by a glare icy enough to drop the temperature of the room. "I'm going to ask you a question, and you're going to answer me on the first try. Understand?" He removed his hand from the man's face.

"Who authorized this attack on the rebels?" Jayck asked, grabbing the bottom of the towel loosely.

"I don't know what happened to you while you were outside, but if you think you can talk to !" Hannon yelped from the pain of Jayck whipping the towel down across the Chief's face, making sure to hit square him in the eye.

"Let's try again. Who authorized the attack?" Jayck dropped the towel to the ground. Hannon squinted up at him with his good eye and spat, landing on Jayck's shirt. Jayck brought down his fist in a crushing blow on Hannon's nose, feeling the satisfying give of broken cartilage. Blood blossomed on the man's face.

"Jayck, please," he heard softly from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to see Amata, standing in shock at seeing her friend, once so passive, now beating a restrained man with no qualms. Jayck looked back down at Hannon with disgust.

"Ok then. Next question."

"No. My turn," Hannon said, spitting out loose blood. "Where are my men?"

Jayck was about to rear back for another blow, looking forward to caving in the bastard's teeth, but restrained himself for the sake of everyone else in the room that he was now acutely aware of.

"They ran. I was too focused on you and left them an opening. They bolted without a second thought," Jack said slowly, trying to maintain his composure. Nothing could have prepared him for Hannon's stream of curses and cries of betrayal that followed. Mid rant, he went still as a thought crossed his mind.

"Where is that old man Taylor?" Hannon seethed, his restrained hands balling into fists.

"I'm right here," came a tired voice from the other side of the rolling curtain. Officer Taylor stepped around and looked down at the bloodied Chief. "You're a monster, Hannon. I may not want to let whatever's outside into this Vault, but I will not stand for us killing each other." Hannon took a breath to respond, but was interrupted by a muffled banging on the door to the waiting room.

"This is the Overseer! Open up in there! Amata, are you ok? Let us in!" came the muffled shouts through the door. Hannon managed one loud cry for help before Jayck had picked up the towel again and shoved it in his mouth. Amata walked over to the door but looked back to Jayck for confirmation before opening it. He looked back at the operating room, wishing he still had his power armor on, but decided it would take too long now. He moved next to the door so that he would be heard clearly.

"Do we have your word you won't open fire on us?" he asked in a raised voice.

"What? Of course we're not going to shoot you! You have hostages! Who on earth is that?" cried the exasperated Overseer. Jayck looked at Amata for any explanation of what her father meant, but was met with a look of equal confusion. He sighed and stepped back from the door, folding his arms.

"Open it."

Amata keyed the lock open and the door slid open. Standing outside were the Overseer, Officers Wilkins and Kendall, Officer Richards, and Allen and Stevie Mack. They all stared agape at Jayck, simply not believing what was in front of them.

"Sir," Jayck nodded stiffly to the Overseer. He then glanced at Stevie, sizing him up for later. Jayck still owed the officer for killing his friend Jonas on night he escaped. Which had been something Stevie did on the Overseer's orders no less. He looked back to the Overseer who was fumbling for his composure.

"You are the metal soldier that shot Chief Hannon?" he asked after piecing the words together slowly, trying to believe it himself.

"Yes and no," Jayck answered. "Was I in the armor, yes. Did I shoot him, no. Starting to wish that I had though."

"But we got reports of gunshots from this area," Allen interjected. "And there's all that blood in the hallway leading in here!"

"Chief Hannon was the one that fired his gun!" Amata said, insulted at their attempt to blame Jayck. "He shot Butch twice and Jayck is the only reason he's still alive!" The Overseer was aghast as he turned on Wilkins and Kendall.

"Did you two lie to me? You attacked them on your own orders, with live ammunition!?" Jayck took a surprised step back. He'd never seen the Overseer that shade of purple before.

"Allen, Richards. I want these imbeciles put in jail to rot. Let Brotch out, he's no danger to anyone," ordered the Overseer in an authoritative tone that commanded total obedience and would accept no less. "Yes sir," came two quick responses. They disarmed Wilkins and Kendall and marched their way out. Only Stevie Mack remained with the Overseer.

"Overseer, could I speak with you privately?" Jayck asked in as civil a tone as he could manage. Amata looked at him worriedly.

"Yes, I believe that may be best. Officer, you may remain outside. Is the operating room available?" the Overseer inquired, glancing at the bloodied, gagged, and writhing form of Chief Hannon. Jayck nodded and followed him towards the door. He felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Please, Jayck, don't hurt him. He may have lied to us all but he only wants what he thinks is best for us," Amata pleaded. Jayck felt torn inside, but couldn't let it show on his face. He had longed for revenge for so long, but also couldn't stand the thought of Amata in more pain.

"I won't," he promised after a pause. "I just need to talk to him." She nodded and let go of his arm. The Overseer keyed the door open but balked when he saw Butch lying unconscious on the table. His torso was bare, his vault jumpsuit pulled down to his waist and his leather jacket tossed in the corner. The white gauze patch taped to his chest had two dry brown stains with wet crimson origins. Jayck walked in past him and set about checking Butch's condition. The door sealed tightly shut behind them.


	6. A House Divided

When Jayck was satisfied that Butch's condition was stable, he stepped over to where he'd stored his power armor and removed his knife from the leg. He attached it to the back of his belt, hiding it under his shirt. The Overseer eyed him warily.

"Relax, it's not for you. Being around mutiny just makes me nervous. So, where do you want to start?" he asked coldly. The Overseer looked around the remnants of the operating room. Everything was in shambles thanks to Andy's time spent there.

"Well. How about what you're doing here and how you got in here," he suggested. Jayck nodded.

"I got a message from Amata asking to come help stop you. She changed the passcode to something only someone from the Vault would know to let me in, but still keep everyone safe." The Overseer went white as a sheet when he heard that.

"Are you ok?" Jayck asked confusedly. The man looked like he had just realized how close to death he had once been without ever knowing it.

"Yes, but…as long as you're here, remind me to show you some messages after we get this sorted out. Amata's rebellious move may have actually saved us all," his voice trailing off to a mutter. He certainly had Jayck's attention, but he decided to not push the question right now.

"Ok then. Why won't you let them open the Vault door? Apparently it's been done before. My father and I having been here in the first place are proof of that," Jayck asked.

"Yes, and that worked out so well for us, hasn't it? It's because not only is it dangerous outside, it violates the entire reason we are in this Vault in the first place! We are the last pure source of humanity on earth," the Overseer answered with more than a hint of arrogance in his voice. Jayck bristled at the disrespect to his father.

"You can't stay down here forever though!" Jayck implored. "With the people as you have left, how long do you think you can last before inbreeding becomes an issue?" The Overseer opened his mouth to answer but closed it and formulated his response.

"I am aware of the imminent stagnation of our genetic pool here...but we may still last a few more generations before we start to see any side effects of that," the Overseer admitted quietly. "Since when did you become a scientist? I thought the G.O.A.T. nominated you for the clergy."

"I've picked up a few things while I was outside," he answered, noting inwardly that the Overseer was already aware of the potential dangers he was placing their future generations in.

The Overseer spent some time deep in thought before continuing, "Even if we were going to interact with the wasteland, I would not be the one to damn us to that fate."

"With your experience and counsel, Amata would be more than capable of letting the good in while keeping the bad out," Jayck countered. "She has enough support from her own side and is certainly smart enough to convince those opposing her. It might be time for you to stop down from your post, Mr. Almodovar."

The Overseer was shocked at the mere suggestion of him giving up his power, and was nearly as shocked at the young man's use of his family name in place of his position. "She...she certainly would be capable if given the chance," he admitted with a heavy sigh. The man suddenly looked as if all the worries and burdens of his time as Overseer had weighed down on him at once. "I know you're right...I just don't want to put this much pressure on her yet. She's only 19, Jayck. For God's sake, you could only be 21 by now at most, and you're the one negotiating this with me? How have the young come to bear everything now?"

"She's stronger than you think, Mr. Almodovar. If you'll stand beside her, she can handle it," said Jayck, surprised that he felt any sort of sympathy for the man. The Overseer steeled himself as he made his decision.

"Ok. I'll do it, but only if you assist us with contacting the outside. I'm sure your knowledge will prove invaluable if she decides to go through with her plan."

"We need to tell her before letting everyone else know," Jayck noted, a primal instinct beginning to stir in the back of his mind. He didn't know what it was, but he felt himself growing restless.

"Yes, I suppose we should. I'll bring her in," the Overseer answered, moving towards the door. Jayck walked over to Butch for another checkup and heard the door slide open.

"Amata, would you…" the Overseer's voice trailed into silence. Jayck looked over his shoulder to see him paralyzed in the doorway, staring out into the waiting room. Jayck's stomach dropped and his brain kicked into overdrive, attempting to come up with possible scenarios for what lay outside the door.

" _Hannon and Stevie were the only potential hostiles in the room and Hannon was restrained, so unless Mack managed to set him loose_ ," Jayck thought, forcing down the bile rising in his throat. His adrenaline from his initial assault and Butch's surgery was long gone. Hammering on Hannon had been a bluff more than anything, though Jayck couldn't say a sick part of him hadn't enjoyed it a little. His armor was in sight of the entryway and there was no way he could get it on in time by himself.

Jayck put his back to the wall and edged his way closer to the entryway. His foot caught on something and he looked down to see Butch's leather Tunnel Snakes jacket where he'd tossed it before the surgery. He snatched up the Jacket and put it on, drawing his knife and hiding it up the sleeve, balancing the tip of the blade on a calloused finger. The Overseer raised both of his hands and walked forward into the room.

"Hannon, you've made plenty of horrible decisions today. I'm begging you, don't make harming my daughter another one."

Jayck emerged slowly from behind the doorway and surveyed the room. Officer Taylor was unconscious on the ground with a bloody wound on his head. Stevie Mack stood in a fighting stance in the middle of the room, police baton drawn. Chief Hannon was standing behind the gurney, one arm around Amata's throat and his pistol back in the other hand, aiming at her head. His nose was bent almost sideways and the lower half of his face was stained crimson with crusty, dried blood.

"No, she's not the one I want. Well, not anymore anyway," Hannon hissed, his grip tightened and made Amata grimace. "I want that bastard," he pointed the gun at Jayck and fired. The bullet struck Jayck in the chest and sent him staggering back. He caught his balance and stood the best he could, blood oozing freely from a new hole in Butch's jacket. He didn't recognize the feeling of anything vital being hit, just the excruciating pain of being shot. His breaths came in ragged spurts.

"Let…her go…" he managed between gasps. The chief laughed mirthlessly, a sound full of hate and malice.

"I don't want her anymore, but I think Stevie might want a turn," he said, shoving Amata towards the officer. Stevie caught Amata with one arm before looking at Jayck and the Overseer.

"You know, I think I could have some fun with you," he breathed. "But nothing like seeing their reactions to this." Amata didn't have time to register the baton coming down at her face and fell to the ground in a heap.

"NO!" cried Jayck and the Overseer together. Instantly, Jayck felt no more pain. He let his knife fall from the sleeve and grabbed the handle, feeling nothing but the cold metal of the weapon and his fiery, seething hatred for Stevie Mack.

Jayck rushed the officer with a ferocity that caught the man completely off guard. Jayck plunged the serrated blade into Mack's thigh, twisting it as hard as he could before head-butting him and breaking his nose. Stevie's screams were music in the moment. Jayck heard the deafening _bangbang_ of Hannon's pistol again, but didn't feel any pain. Not pausing to think, he wrenched the blade free of the officer's leg and plunged it up under his security vest and deep into his belly, again twisting viciously. Jayck felt the dead weight on his blade as Stevie lapsed into unconsciousness and pushed the body to the side, leaving him to bleed out before turning back to Hannon.

Jayck gasped, feeling some of his raw strength ebb away upon seeing the Overseer lying dead on the floor, a bullet wound directly over his heart and another just below. Hannon was staring at Jayck with a mix of fear and hatred, as if Jayck were the devil himself. He raised the pistol and took aim, not intending to allow the demon a second chance at killing him. Jayck stood covered in blood, knife in hand, and panting, well aware that he would never cover the ground between them in time.

"I'll see you in hell," Hannon growled as his finger squeezed the trigger. The sizzling that filled the air immediately after didn't come from Hannon's pistol, but from the operating room door. A green plasma bolt collided with Hannon's chest, burning through his uniform and chest alike, killing him instantly. Jayck looked up to see Butch in the doorway, lowering Jayck's plasma pistol.

"Guess now we're even," Butch grinned darkly, wincing in pain. Jayck could only return the smile as he collapsed to the floor and his world went black.


	7. Housekeeping

Throbbing pain shot through Jayck's head as his vision swam hazily into view through the wave of nausea. He could make out three blurry figures standing above him and panicked, muffled noises he assumed were their voices. He felt a slight prick on his arm, almost hidden underneath the pain in his head, before he slipped back into the darkness

…

When he awoke for the second time, Jayck was greeted by the unfortunately familiar feeling of a bullet wound in his chest. It had taken him several encounters before he learned an effective way of putting down armed bandits without taking fire himself. Despite his head's howling protests against movement, he looked around and saw that he was back in the operating room, lying on the table. The metal surface chilled the bare skin of his back and he noticed his shirt was off. Glancing down, he noticed a gauze patch on his pectoral with a bloody stain on it. He laid his head down and closed his eyes before trying to piece together the events that had led up to him falling unconscious, but for the moment it was a haze of pain and adrenaline. He heard the door to the operating room slide open.

"Hey, he's up! He's awake!" came an excited voice, much too loud for Jayck's liking at the time. The voice sounded familiar but he didn't bother trying to place it for now. Jayck turned his head to see Butch walking into the room, his jacket back on and his jumpsuit tied around his waist, leaving his chest open. Jayck smirked.

" _Leave it to Butch to show off his new war wound_ ," he thought. Jayck tried to sit up and eventually managed it with Butch's help.

"Hey, how ya feeling?" Butch asked. He gave Jayck a once-over look. "Ya look better than I did waking up, that's for sure." Jayck smiled.

"I've had worse," he coughed. "But I still like to avoid getting shot whenever I can."

"Yeah, I feel ya there. Hey, Amata said you were the one that patched me up after the chief got me. I wanted to thank ya for that," Butch said in a rare moment of sincerity.

"Sure, no problem," Jayck managed awkwardly after a moment of stunned silence. That was the second time ever that he'd ever seen Butch drop the macho act, the only other time being when he had come looking for Jayck to help save his mother from the giant roaches the night of his escape.

"So what happened?" Jayck asked, a hand to his head. "Everything's still a blur."

"Well, I'm not sure about the whole thing, but I woke up just as you were heading out the door. Saw you had my jacket on and tried to say something but couldn't catch my breath. Then I saw you two looked like you were in trouble and could use a little help. So I dragged myself off the table and grabbed your green gun during the racket outside. I was too late to save the Overseer, but you had Chief Hannon distracted. When I saw he was gonna end you too, I shot first," Butch finished with an air of pride at being the savior this time.

"So the Overseer…?" Jayck let the question hang in the air, unwilling to finish it.

"Yes, my father's dead," came a hollow voice. Amata walked into the room and stood on the other side of the table. She managed a weak smile and put her hand on Jayck's. "How are you feeling?"

"Better than I thought I would," Jayck admitted. He looked down at his chest for the first time and saw that he had a gauze patch covering it similar to Butch's, albeit more haphazardly done. "Who fixed me up?"

"Mr. Brotch, of all people," Amata laughed emptily. "I came to and then he and Officers Mack and Richards came back not long after we'd dragged you in here. Butch was able to prevent any further violence by threatening them with your pistol." Butch beamed at the praise, patting the plasma pistol now attached to his belt.

"Then Mr. Brotch brought us in here and took off my patch some to see how you'd worked on me. He tried his best to do the same and get all the bits out, but you know. First time and all," Butch finished with a guilty shrug. Jayck nodded gratefully and made a mental note to get checked for any loose shrapnel back at the Citadel.

"Butch, can I talk to Jayck in private? Please?" Amata asked quietly. Her grip on his hand tightened slightly.

"Oh, uh…sure, no problem. I'll go make sure everything's ok outside. Well…you know what I mean," Butch stuttered, sliding his way out of the room. Jayck watched with a raised eyebrow, thinking that he never imagined he'd see Butch act that way. The door sealed shut behind him.

Amata sighed and let her shoulders slump, her posture gone. Jayck saw the tears in her eyes before he noticed Butch pulling the curtain back in front of the window outside. Turning his attention back to Amata, he saw she had her head in her hands, shoulders shaking from racking sobs. Jayck put an arm around her and pulled her close to him, not saying a word. Sometimes it was better to let someone just cry. There was something strangely healing and cleansing about taking the time to sob your sorrows away.

She sagged in his arms and cried until her eyes were red and puffy. The entire time Jayck simply held her and eventually whispered whatever comforts he could. After a time, her tears stopped and breathing came back under control. She wiped her nose and looked up at her old friend.

"Jayck, what are we gonna do?" she finally asked. "How are we going to make it without an Overseer?" Jayck cursed inwardly that she had to find out like this, but she had to know.

"Amata…when your father and I were talking, he decided that you should be able to open the vault," he said slowly. Amata scoffed, wiping her eyes.

"Right. Like he'd ever do that while he was in control," she murmured.

"That's the thing. He knew he wasn't the right man for the job. He was going to get you to tell you that he was stepping down to make room for you as the new Overseer," Jayck finished softly. Amata looked at him with wide eyes.

"Me? As the new Overseer?" she asked, not sure whether to believe it or not. She knew full well the responsibilities that came with the post. Jayck simply nodded. She stood up, eyes unfocused as she tried to wrap her head around the news.

"We were going to support you any way we could, but yes. He wanted you to take over."

"Do you mind if I take a minute? " she asked. Jayck shook his head.

"Of course not. It's some heavy news, you should take your time figuring out your next step." Amata nodded and walked towards the door.

"I'll be back in a little while once I've…thought about things some," she said in a daze. Jayck nodded and watched her walk out before lying back on the table, glad to let the pressure of sitting up off his wound. He was starting to think the bullet had hit a rib, given the pain when he moved around. A new figure entered the room before the door closed. Jayck tilted his head to see Mr. Brotch looking down at him with a crooked smile.

"Hey there, hero," he said caringly. "Glad to see you're up and…well. You're up anyway," he joked amiably. "Hope I didn't mess up your patch job too much, but if I did, you know what they say. Girls love scars," he added with a wink. Jayck shook his head and laughed, wincing at the pain. He almost wasn't used to people being this friendly anymore after his time in the wasteland.

"Reverse engineering my work on Butch was a smart move," Jayck said, patting the gauze on his chest. "What do you think will happen next?"

"Sadly, funeral arrangements," Mr. Brotch sighed. "We have four dead to tend to now."

"Four?" Jayck asked, propping himself up on his elbows. "Who was the fourth?"

"Officer Taylor," Mr. Brotch answered. "Apparently Stevie Mack hit him over the head with his baton before undoing enough of Chief Hannon's restraints for him to get loose. You're probably caught up on what happened after that." Jayck swore and closed his eyes. He had wanted to save his home, not watch it tear itself apart from the inside.

"Would you mind waking me up once Amata comes back?" he asked. Mr. Brotch nodded and moved towards the door.

"Regardless of what happens, Jayck," he said genuinely. "Thank you for coming back for us."


	8. Safehouse

Jayck slept for what felt like hours before a knock on the door of the operating room woke him. The door hissed open and Mr. Brotch walked in, followed by Amata. Jayck pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked at them, searching for any hints as to what was going to happen next. Yielding no results, he opted for a more direct approach.

"So what's our next move?" he asked Amata. Being the new Overseer, it was ultimately her call.

"We need to get rid of the bodies," she said solemnly. Jayck nodded, aware that she was still in the middle of grieving and being forced to take charge of the entire vault.

"I'd like to have a funeral for my father and Officer Taylor," she added. "Chief Hannon and Stevie Mack can go straight to the crematorium."

"I'll grab some help and get started on that," Mr. Brotch said. Amata nodded and watched the door slide shut behind him as he left. Jayck looked at his friend, amazed at how well she was holding herself together.

"Jayck, I've been meaning to ask you something," she started quietly, still gazing at the closed door. "When you and my father were in here, did he mention anything other than me becoming Overseer?" Jayck tried to remember and put a hand to his temple to ease the throbbing in his head.

"Uh…messages. He got real nervous and said something about showing me some messages later. The rest of the time I was convincing him that you didn't have the numbers to sustain living down here and that you needed to interact with the outside," Jayck answered, unsure of why she asked about that. Amata turned to look at him and he saw the growing fear in her eyes.

"I think I know what he wanted to show you," she said. "I went up to his…my office for a place to gather my thoughts. I opened the Overseer's private documents to take inventory of things he never shared with anyone else and there was one there about receiving radio contact a week ago from a group trying to enter the Vault. They said they had an old passcode that wasn't working and asked my father to let them in, regardless of the Vault's protocols. Of course my father refused and eventually they left." Jayck thought for a moment.

"Amata, when did you actually change the passcode to the door?" Jayck asked slowly. She cast her thoughts back briefly.

"Two weeks ago, at the most," she said, realization slowly dawning on her. "Are you saying that I'm the only reason they were locked out?" Jayck nodded. Now he understood why the Overseer was so unsettled when he heard Amata had changed the code. Without her, the entire vault would likely have been slaughtered.

"Did the group say who they were?" Jayck asked. Amata nodded slowly, the look on her face a mirror of her father's when he had the same revelation.

"Have you ever heard of the Enclave?

* * *

The dwindling population of Vault 101 gathered together in the dimly lit atrium. They had lost four of their own and another two were imprisoned for mutiny. They looked at the two bodies lying on the table before them, each with a clean sheet draped over them. Amata and Mr. Brotch were giving eulogies for her father, Alphonse Almodovar, and the brave security officer who had alerted the rebels to the coming assault, Paul Taylor. Allen Mack, Stevie's father, was nowhere to be seen. His wife Gloria and their remaining two children stood together silently in the crowd.

A lone figure stood against the wall at the back of the funeral. Despite having grown up there, Jayck no longer felt a part of the close-knit group that inhabited the vault. His mind was focused elsewhere anyway, wondering what he was going to do about the Enclave and Vault 101. He needed to get into the Overseer's files and see what they possibly could have been after.

Amata had just finished her speech about accepting the responsibility of being their new Overseer when Jayck started listening to the meeting again. He glanced down at his Pip-Boy and saw that he had been back nearly 24 hours. With it getting late again, he suspected everyone would be turning in soon. He melded into the shadows while the crowd filed out into the halls leading to the dormitories. He was wearing a leather Tunnel Snakes jacket that Butch had given him over a set of spare clothes he'd found in storage.

Butch and Mr. Brotch placed the covered bodies onto waiting gurneys and wheeled them away to the crematorium. Amata made her way over to where Jayck was hidden.

"How'd I do?" she asked tentatively, motioning for him to follow her.

"You did great," he smiled, falling in beside her. "Your father would be proud of you. He always was."

"Thanks," she said, wiping a tear from her eye. "So what are you going to do now?"

"I need to find a way to protect you…to protect everyone from the Enclave, in case they come back. Especially when you decide to open the door," he answered. "I have some people in mind that might be able to help, but I can't contact them from here. I'd have to leave for help eventually anyway, so I might as well start there." They'd arrived at the door to the Almodovar apartment.

"Oh," Amata sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. "I was hoping you'd be around for a little while longer, but I understand if you need to go. It just feels safer when you're here." Jayck chuckled softly and stepped closer to hug his friend to him, holding her tight.

"Please stay the night," she whispered into his chest, choking back tears. "I can't lose the two people that matter to me most in the same day."

Jayck was caught off guard by the emotion in her voice and immediately scolded himself for not thinking about how she'd take his departure. He nodded and kissed the top of her head.

"Of course," he answered softly.


	9. The Morning After

Jayck woke the next morning and sat up, wincing as the movement of stretching pulled on the taped gauze on his chest. He rubbed his eyes and swung his legs over the edge before movement in the bed startled him. Jayck spun around to see Amata rolling over in her sleep, pulling the now available sheets with her. He smiled and slowly got out of bed to avoid waking her. She deserved some peace after the day before.

Jayck noticed a trickle of blood ran down his chest as he pulled on his Vault suit and new jacket. He scrawled a note on some paper and quietly made his way out of Amata's apartment, back to the operating room to check on his stitches and get his things ready to leave. He was lost in thought, wondering how he'd convince the Brotherhood to help them, when he ran into Butch in the Vault atrium.

"Hey, we thought you'd already left!" Butch exclaimed excitedly. "We checked your old room but it didn't look like anyone had touched it since you escaped. Where'd you…" Butch's jaw dropped as he noticed the direction Jayck had come from.

"You stayed with her, didn't you?" he asked with a sly grin. Jayck nodded, feeling a slight burning in his cheeks.

"Did you two uh…you know," Butch prompted. Jayck's face flushed the deepest red it could muster.

"Come on, Butch, really? Last night was not the time for that," he deflected. "She asked me to stay the night and I did, that's all." Butch pouted at the lack of new gossip.

"Anyway, I'm going to clean this up," Jayck said, gesturing to his chest. "Want me to show you how to do it?" Butch thought for a moment and nodded, figuring it would be a good thing to know in the future.

"Sure, why not. Last thing I want is to give Andy any reason to get near me." Jayck laughed and motioned for him to follow.

As they entered the operating room, Jayck set about finding any clean supplies he would need, looting both his father's old stores and what he had brought in his bag. Butch sat on the table, preferring to stay out of the way. Having gathered everything he needed, Jayck laid them on the table beside Butch before taking off his jacket and storing it in his bag. He then pulled down his Vault suit and tied it around his waist, exposing the dirty gauze on his chest, now wet with fresh blood mixing into old stains. He peeled the tape off and removed the gauze, knowing he wouldn't enjoy what came next.

Butch watched silently as Jayck took some scissors and started cutting Mr. Brotch's amateur stitches away. The teacher had done well for his first time with no training, but had understandably made some mistakes. The exile grimaced as the strings slipped free of the inflamed, irritated skin. As the last strings were cut, the wound opened slightly and drank in the fresh air. Jayck prepped a needle and thread before picking up a container off the table and inhaling deeply from it. Butch could have sworn he saw his pupils dilate for a second but decided it was just the light in the lab.

Jayck took a deep breath before beginning his work redoing his stitches. The Jet definitely helped with the pain, but it was still unnerving to watch the needle glide through his skin. Jayck finished his work and washed the wound with a mild, watery solution from a bottle. He looked up to see that Butch had gone white as a ghost.

"I uh…I don't have to do that myself, right?" he stammered nervously. Jayck chuckled, putting on some new, clean gauze.

"No, yours should be fine as long as you don't mess with them. In about two weeks they should be painless to cut out the way I did. Doesn't mean it won't feel bizarre though," he added with a shake of his head. A small amount of color returned to Butch's face and he took off his jacket and pulled down his Vault suit.

"So what's your plan now? You back here for good?" he asked. Jayck paused while washing his hands.

"I wish I could," the wanderer sighed. "But I need to leave if I'm going to make sure everyone else stays safe."

"Hey, come on, man, ain't nothing out there us Tunnel Snakes can't handle! Everyone knows we rule!" Butch exclaimed proudly before yelping as Jayck ripped his gauze off. The gang leader was about to explode at what he thought was his new friend but fell silent when he was the look on Jayck's face.

"That won't work on the outside, Butch," he bit out, somewhat shorter than he'd intended, but the effect sunk in. "I've seen a lot of good people go out there unprepared and die. Bravado can only get you so far."

"Well how have you lasted so long then?" Butch snapped with a tinge of jealousy. Jayck sighed, suddenly feeling drained from the previous day's events.

"Honestly? Luck is most of it," he muttered. "The rest is always being as prepared as possible. That alone has saved me more times than I can count," Jayck nodded towards his power armor as he finished putting new gauze over Butch's stitches. The Tunnel Snake hopped off the table and knelt down to inspect the armor.

"So where'd you get this stuff anyway?" he asked. "Most of it seems pretty high-grade gear."

"That, my friend, is a story for another time," Jayck answered, pulling on his Vault suit. "Like when we get something to eat after you help me get that armor on."


	10. Wasteland Calling

Amata descended the stairs into the cafeteria, unsure of how people would receive her now that they'd had some time to process her appointment to Overseer. She hoped Jayck hadn't left yet, but knew in her gut that he wouldn't have left without saying goodbye. That would give her a chance to ask him something she'd been pondering since her appointment.

She entered the cafeteria to see Jayck, Butch, and Officer Gomez sitting in a booth. Jayck was facing the entrance, again wearing his bulky red and black power armor. Once he spotted her, Jayck waved Amata over, moving his helmet from the seat beside him and placing it on the ground.

"Morning, Overseer," he smiled. Butch and Gomez nodded their greetings, their mouth full of breakfast.

"Good morning everyone," Amata greeted, still standing. "Jayck, can I talk to you about something?"

"Um, sure?" he answered uncertainly, following Amata into the hallway. "What's on your mind?"

"I've been thinking about my responsibilities as Overseer now that we plan to open the Vault for trade. I need to know how things work on the outside, and I can only learn so much from old files." Jayck began to see where she was going with her proposal.

"You want to come outside with me when I leave," he finished for her.

"It sounds like the best way to let me learn," she offered, crossing her arms. "Besides, shouldn't I meet whoever is going to help us against this Enclave before they both arrive at our front door?'

"What about your position? Overseers don't usually leave their posts for anything," Jayck countered.

"I could appoint a temporary replacement to fill in for me," Amata stated. "This isn't the first time the Vault has been opened, but these are still unique circumstances. Besides, nothing should change until we get back, as long as they keep the door closed."

Jayck pondered silently before exhaling softly, knowing nothing he could say would change her mind. "I guess you already have a candidate then?"

Amata grinned victoriously. "Mr. Brotch would handle the responsibilities well. He's respected by everyone here and I trust him even more after he sided with us during our rebellion," she finished.

Jayck glanced in the window to the cafeteria. "Well, here's your chance to tell him that."

Amata peeked in the window to see Mr. Brotch filling his plate with breakfast before sitting on a stool at the bar, a pensive look on his face. She straightened up and exhaled, regaining her composure before going up to their old teacher.

Jayck watched through the glass as Amata approached him and spoke, inviting Mr. Brotch into the hall with them. They exited the cafeteria before turning to him.

"Good morning, Jayck," Mr. Brotch yawned sleepily. "What can I do for you, Amata? Sorry, _Overseer,_ " he corrected himself, knowing she needed to get used to hearing the title.

"I've decided to go with Jayck to learn about the outside world while we go recruit help to protect the Vault from a very real and very imminent threat," Amata said seriously. "But that means I need someone to fill my position as Overseer while we're gone and I'd like to ask you to do it."

Brotch stood in stunned silence before laughing nervously. "My, that's a lot to take in before breakfast. Have you told anyone else yet?"

Amata shook her head. "I just now convinced Jayck to let me come with him as you came down here," she said. "Will you accept the position of temporary Overseer?"

"Of..of course I will. Anything I can do to help keep us safe," the teacher answered in a bit of a daze. "How long do you think you two will be gone?"

Amata looked to Jayck for an answer, who was already busy calculating in his head.

"A day's travel to and from the Citadel, and the Brotherhood will likely want something in return for assisting us, so that's another two days if they want the favor in advance. I'd call it anywhere from four to six days. A week at most," Jayck answered tentatively. "It's difficult to be precise when planning on the outside."

Mr. Brotch nodded understandingly. "I should be able to hold down the fort for that long. How would you like to tell the others?"

"I'll tell everyone that's in the cafeteria at the moment. Anyone still asleep after yesterday should be allowed to rest," Amata answered.

"I'll go get my gear ready so we can leave as soon as you're done," Jayck said. With a nod, Amata and her new replacement returned to the cafeteria as Jayck made his way down the hall and up the stairs to go gather his bag. He used the time to come up with a new plan from scratch, now that Amata was coming with him. She was going to need at least armor and a weapon, that much was certain. Weapons he had in plenty at his house, but they'd need to see Moira about finding something more durable that her vault suit.

Jayck keyed open the door to the operating room and began packing all of his loose supplies back in his bag. He strapped his knife to his leg after checking to make sure the blade was clean. The beaten leather sheath looked out of place in the sterile steel lab. He put on his backpack before sliding his repeater between the bag and his armor. After giving his rig a test jostle to make sure it stayed put, Jayck made his way back down the metallic hallways, signs of the previous few days of chaos still painfully evident.

Glancing through the window of the cafeteria once again as he passed it, Jayck saw the residents dispersing and Amata speaking with Officer Gomez.

As he walked through the door, Jayck help a rap on his shoulder plate. Butch pushed his helmet at him while looking him dead in the eye.

"Keep her safe out there man," he said seriously. "Both of you come back ok."

Jayck nodded solemnly and put on his helmet, fixing the clasps in place. His world went dark and muffled before the helmet came to life. The room was bathed in the familiar green glow of the helmet's lenses. Butch held out the plasma pistol as well, but Jayck shook his head.

"Keep them safe in here," he said with a hidden smirk. Butch beamed at the responsibility of his task and proudly clipped the pistol back on his belt.

Amata turned when she heard Jayck's voice but stiffened when she saw him, once again face with the figure that had materialized out of thin air during the attack. After letting out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, Amata asked, "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes ma'am. We should get moving if we plan on getting to the Citadel by dark," Jayck said formally, his habits from spending time with the Brotherhood kicking in. His voice sounded metallic through the speakers, like an echo through a tin can. "Officer Gomez, would you see us out?"

"Of course. Lead on, Jayck," he said. After a final round of goodbyes and well wishes, the three of them made their way to the Vault door.

"Alright, Officer. We'll be back as soon as we can. Don't open the door for anyone, inside or out," Amata ordered.

"As you wish, Overseer," Gomez replied as he keyed in the password for the door.

"I'd cover your ears," Jayck warned them. "This can be painful."

Both of them did as they were told and watched the massive metal arm reach down from the ceiling and grasp the door securely. They were grateful for the warning as the peals of screeching metal echoed mightily throughout the entry. Finally, the door came to a halt and the tunnel beyond was visible, sunlight leaking through the wooden slats of the exit door.

"Good luck, you two," said Officer Gomez warmly, choosing to stay at the control panel. Jayck and Amata descended the stairs into the earthen tunnel. The foreign smells of masses of dirt and fresh air felt wet and heavy in Amata's lungs. Jayck stepped ahead of her and pushed open the squeaky hinged door, motioning for her to wait inside. The rotted door closed behind him and Amata's heart was racing as she imagined what lay outside. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, the door screeched open again and Jayck held it wide, casting a sweeping arm over the sunlit desolation before them.

"Welcome to the Capital Wasteland."


	11. Sheriff Business

Amata followed close behind Jayck, both awed and saddened by the desolation all around them. The houses she'd seen pictures of in Mr. Brotch's books and projections had all collapsed into rotten ruins. A dusty wind blew debris lazily through the deserted streets of Springvale.

"Are we going straight to the Citadel?" she asked in a low voice, noting that Jayck had his rifle drawn and was scanning the ruins. He shook his head.

"It'll be safer if we get you geared up first before going that far," he answered without looking back. They turned right at a fork in the cracked, broken asphalt road and Jayck pointed to a piled mass of metal debris visible through the hills.

"That'll be our first stop. Megaton."

As they safely neared the settlement, a watchman called down to them from his vantage point, "Hey Jayck, your big, green buddy left town yesterday. He said something about Moira asking him for some help researching something."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for him. Thanks, Stockholm," Jayck waved. He moved forward to push open the rusted sheet metal door into Megaton.

"After you," he bowed.

Amata walked past him into the town and was amazed at the ingenuity that had gone into creating it. No structure was without at least one wall of ramshackle metal held together by the sheer absurdity of its construction. Ramps wound around the walls leading to the upper levels of the city. Despite being made almost entirely of separate materials, the entire town had the same muddy brown overtones, only broken by the occasional splash of color of a beaten old car that had been worked into the structures.

What was strangest for Amata, however, were all the new faces. Everywhere she looked there wasn't a single familiar face. They, on the other hand, didn't seem to think her any different from other visitors that came through their town, aside from the glances they would cast at her Vault suit. They hadn't seen one of those since Jayck had stumbled into town and wondered if this newcomer promised as much adventure as her predecessor.

Jayck led the way down the earthen hill and turned left to a house, seemingly built of nothing but steel and sheet metal. He unlocked the door only to be tackled by a blur of fur. He teetered back on his heels from the impact but kept his feet and laughed at the dog in his arms.

"Easy boy, easy!" he managed between laughs, dropping the excited animal to the ground. "Amata, this is Dogmeat."

Amata couldn't help but smile at the way the dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth while his tail wagged at amiably. "Where'd you find him?" she asked. Jayck led the way inside the house, followed by Amata with Dogmeat sniffing at her heels. He popped the seal on his helmet and unfastened it, breathing in the comforting smells of home.

"I was passing a junkyard and heard all these shouts and barking. He had been cornered in a wall of junked cars by a group of raiders, so we took then out together and he's been with me ever since," he answered proudly, turning to face her.

"You mean you killed them, right?" Amata asked solemnly after a pause. Jayck sighed. He knew they would have to get this out of the way eventually.

"Yes, we killed them, but I didn't enjoy doing it. When you're outside, you have to kill if you want to survive. In a fight, it's either them or you. You can't both walk away."

Amata sat at the table as she thought about what being outside the Vault had done to her friend. She thought about what exposing everyone still inside would do to the residents. She shook her head, hating this newfound cruelty of the Wasteland.

"You're right," she muttered. "Even in the Vault we couldn't compromise after a point." The wound in Jayck's chest throbbed at the memory.

"That doesn't mean you shouldn't try though," he said, taking off his pack and sitting down beside her, the wood bench groaning in protest at the weight. "Just because killing is a reality doesn't mean it has to be your first option."

"The Enclave…do you think they would have let us walk out of the Vault if they had gotten in?" Amata asked. Jayck's face darkened.

"Based on past experiences with them, I doubt it. If they think the Vault has something they want, they would have killed anyone that got in their way before killing the rest to keep word from spreading," he answered. Amata shuddered, not wanting to imagine her home once again filled with the acrid smells of smoke and death. In the silence that followed, her stomach grumbled loudly.

"That's right, you never ate this morning did you?" Jayck thought aloud. "Let me see what I've got." He went to the kitchen, leaving Amata alone with her thoughts.

"There's some noodles, Brahmin steak, or some…no, you probably wouldn't want that. Dogmeat, here boy!" The dog bounded to the kitchen at the promise of food and was soon tearing apart large chunks of meat.

"I'll try the steak," she answered and heard the door close. Jayck came back in with the food in one hand and two glass bottles in the other. The red labels stood out starkly against the brown liquid inside. He opened both bottles and tossed her the caps before setting one on the table with the food.

"These are what people use as currency out here," he told her. "Good news is that everyone and their dog accepts them. Bad news is that they're bulky and noisy in large amounts so remember to stuff something down on top of them if you're carrying a lot at once."

Amata nodded with a mouthful of food. The taste was nothing like the packaged Salisbury steaks they had always eaten in the Vault. Her senses were beginning to feel like they were being overloaded by all the new experiences. In the kitchen, Dogmeat lay down in his bed and curled up contentedly.

Jayck took a drink of his Nuka-Cola before asking, "Have you ever used a gun before?"

Amata swallowed the sugary drink and shook her head, "I've held my father's pistol during that night you escaped, but that's it."

"Ok, we'll see what we can do about a little target practice along the way," Jayck said. Dogmeat looked up at the door from his bed and gave a loud bark. Jayck's head whipped toward the sound but relaxed when only a soft _boof_ followed from the guard dog.

"Seems we have a visitor," he said to his startled friend. Jayck stood up from the table and walked to the door, opening it before the knock ever fell. In the doorway stood the Sheriff of Megaton, Lucas Simms, with a hand raised.

"Sheriff," Jayck greeted, extending a hand. Simms took it and shook amiably.

"Good to see ya, Jayck," he replied. "Word on the street is that you brought back a visitor from that Vault of yours." Jayck stood aside, allowing the Sheriff inside.

"Yes I did. Sheriff, this is Amata Almodovar, the Overseer of Vault 101. Amata, this is Lucas Simms. He tries to keep some sense of order around here."

"It's a pleasure, miss," Simms said, offering a hand to Amata.

"Likewise," she replied, taking it and shaking firmly. Getting on the Lawman's good side was sure to be helpful later on.

"I wish I was just here to shoot the shit, but unfortunately I'm here on business," Simms sighed, pushing back his duster and placing his hands on his hips. "I've had word of boys prowling around here looking for you, Jayck. Folks said they looked like Talon. What the hell did you do to get them so riled up?"

"The Brotherhood and I razed their compound and killed Commander Jabsco about two weeks ago," Jayck said evenly, folding his gauntleted arms. "Honestly, I'm surprised any of them survived. They must've been away during the attack."

"Jesus, Jayck," Simms spat sourly with a desperate look up. "Well, they're here now. What do you wanna do about it?"

"You said they're just after me, right?" Jayck asked.

"So they said, but don't forget who we're talking about here. They'd do anything to flush you out normally, so who knows what they'll do now that you ganked Jabsco," the Sheriff shook his head.

"Who are these Talon Company guys?" Amata asked in the silence that followed.

"The worst group of mercenaries out there. They'll do anything if the money's good enough and I mean _anything_ ," Simms explained. "Honestly, Jayck and the tin soldiers did the whole Wasteland a favor by killing that sonovabitch, but now they've painted a neon target on their backs for any survivors looking to get even."

"How many have people seen?" Jayck asked, formulating a plan in his head.

"Least five, maybe up to ten. People don't usually stop to count heads when they see Talon around."

Jayck grunted in agreement and walked over to the wall of lockers where he stored his weapons. He took down his combat shotgun, a fresh 10mm pistol, and a sniper rifle, grabbing a satchel of ammo for each.

"Sheriff, would you do me a favor while I take care of this?" he asked while he attached the shotgun and pistol ammo to his belt and the sniper rounds to his pack.

"Always happy to help anyone willing to get rid of Talon mercs for me."

"Would you take Amata over to see Moira? She needs to be outfitted if we're going to make it to the Citadel in one piece," Jayck requested, holstering the pistol on his right leg and checking to make sure his knife was secure on the left.

The Sheriff raised an eyebrow, mildly wary of anything having to do with the Brotherhood. Especially something like taking someone fresh out of a Vault to their headquarters. "Sure, I'll get her sorted."

"Thanks, Simms. Tell Moira I'll pay for everything when we get back," he turned to Amata. "Dogmeat and I will clear these guys out and then we can get going."

Amata stood silent, trying to wrap her head around the fact that her friend was going headfirst into a band of brutal mercenaries without so much as a second thought.

"Jayck, try not to do anything stupid" she said with a hollow, mirthless laugh. It was a frail effort at making herself feel better, but it failed. The two others noticed her discomfort, but were so used to the constant dangers of living in the Wasteland that it took them a moment to realize her concern.

"I will. We'll both be back as soon as it's safe," Jayck smiled reassuringly and put his helmet on. After a silent moment, his metallic voice echoed in the room. "Come on, Dogmeat."

He slung on his pack and tucked the shotgun away on his back. Cradling the sniper in one arm, he held the door open with the other before following the ecstatic dog outside into the wastes. In the quiet that filled the room after Jayck left, Simms almost missed the whisper of " _Good luck_."


	12. Supply Run

"Well, you ready to go see Moira?" Simms asked in a gruff, but awkward tone. He didn't often have to deal with people new to the Wasteland.

"Sure, let's go. I need to be ready when Jayck gets back, don't I?" Amata snapped without meaning to. The anger in her voice took her completely by surprise, having flared up so quickly. Did she resent Jayck being so capable while she felt like a helpless infant?

"Easy there, Overseer. Don't want any trouble, just trying to do Jayck a favor. God knows this town owes him that much," the Sheriff growled, opening the door for her.

"I apologize, Sheriff. What _has_ he done here though?" Amata asked as she walked out the door and fell in behind the Sheriff heading back up the packed dirt to the main path through town.

"Saved each of us at least once, that's what he's done. Saved me from getting shot by a shady bastard in a bar, knocked our bartender Moriarty down a much-needed peg, and deactivated our personal radioactive headache," Simms said pointed to a large metal object in a small pond in the middle of the motely town. "There are even rumors that he and his father are the reason we all have pure water to drink instead of that contaminated shit."

Amata followed up the metal ramps in silence. Had Jayck managed to find his father? If so, where was he?

"Here we are. Craterside Supply, home of our very own Moira Brown," Simms said proudly as he stood in front of a ramshackle building topped with an ancient, gutted airliner. "She can be…eccentric at times, but the girl knows her stuff."

The two of them walked inside to what appeared to be a room empty of life until a dark figure shifted in the shadows. The man there said nothing, merely watching them with hawk-like eyes. A sudden yelp and commotion of crashing metal behind the counter caught their attention.

"You ok, Moira?" the Sheriff asked.

"Oh, I'll be fine," said the red-haired woman who stood up from the clutter. "You must be the new arrival I heard about! I'm Moira Brown," the shopkeeper grinned.

"Amata Almodovar," the Overseer smiled back. It lifted her spirits to see that there were some people in the wasteland who still clung to happiness. "And yeah, that's me. I have to admit, I'm surprised you already knew I was here."

"Oh, I had someone come by who saw you and Jayck walk in. Word travels fast in a small town," Moira smiled sheepishly. "So what can I do for you?"

"Jayck said she needs everything from the ground up and that he'd cover the costs when they got back," the Sheriff answered for her. Amata shrugged and offered an embarrassed smile, realizing how unprepared she truly was for the journey she was about to embark on.

"Oh, don't worry dearie!" Moira exclaimed gleefully. "I just got restocked so we should be able to get you all set up with what you need."

Sheriff Simms turned to Amata with a rare smile, "You're in good hands now, miss. I have to go take care of some other business, but come find me if you need anything. Moira," he finished with a tip of his hat before walking out of the shop.

"He's such a nice man," the shopkeeper commented as the door swung closed. "Now just what are you and our Jayck up to?"

Amata bristled unconsciously at Moira referring to Jayck as "theirs", but then felt her stomach drop when she realized he really wasn't the boy she'd known before anymore.

"He said we needed to go to the Citadel for help. Not really sure where that is though," Amata admitted.

"Oh, off to see the Brotherhood are we? Very exciting!" Moira beckoned for Amata to follow her to the shelves that lined the wall of the store. They were piled high with every sort of junk imaginable. Crates of guns and grenades sat next to stacks of folded clothes of various sizes and materials. Metal boxes overflowed with an assortment of ancient packaged foods and other odds and ends.

"That can sure be a dangerous trip though, so let's get you ready," Moira said cheerfully, handing Amata her own brown canvas pack. "Lots of raiders out there so you'll need something to pop them back. How about…ooh, these will work nicely!"

Moira handed her a hunting rifle, scuffed a lifetime of reliable use, and a polished 10mm pistol made of a dark metal that gleamed in the shop light. Amata took the pistol and attached it to her belt before taking the rifle and leaning it against the wall.

"No no, you never put the barrel facing down," Moira laughed as Amata fumbled for the rifle, clutching it tightly as the heat spread through her cheeks. "Not many guns where you're from, huh?"

"Nothing bigger than a pistol," Amata answered, placing the gun in Moira's outstretched hand. The way the woman expertly handled the weapon as she explained its workings greatly impressed the young woman. Moira showed her how to load a clip into the rifle, rack a round into the chamber, and how to eject the clip when it was empty.

"Now this one doesn't have a safety on it right now, so as long as there's a bullet loaded, you're set to go!" Moira beamed. "I would have fixed it if I had the parts, but those were the only thing that this shipment was missing. Maybe Jayck can fix it on the way! He's become quite the resourceful one."

"I'm sure he can take a look at least. The pistol has a safety though, right?" Amata asked warily, suddenly acutely aware of the weight on her hip.

"Of course! Just here on the side," the shopkeeper pointed. "Flip that down, pull back the slide to chamber a round, and it's live. Now for your clothes…" Moira muttered as she rummaged through the piles of material.

"Oh, this would make the trip just fine! I could even fit it for you if you have time," she said, holding up a set of boiled, brown leather armor roughly Amata's size.

"Sure, let me see how it fits first?" Amata took the armor and held it up against her body. "Do you have somewhere I could change?"

"Right through that door, dearie. Just close the door behind you," Moira answered with a smile before turning back to the shelves and packing Amata's bag with more supplies.

Amata entered the side room and closed the door behind her. It was a dimly lit room with a staircase leading up to a catwalk that seemed to wrap around the entire shop from above. She shook her head, wondering how someone could be so constantly upbeat in this barbaric wasteland. How did Moira do it while Jayck had changed so much? Changed to the point that she felt she hardly knew her best friend anymore. For the first time since he left Megaton, Amata found herself wondering if he would be ok fighting so many mercenaries on his own.

Amata stepped back into the main shop clad in the leather armor that looked as if it had been made for her. Her hair was now tucked behind her ears and hung down to her shoulders due to her hair tie having broken while she was changing. The dark metal of her pistol gleamed on her hip in the shop's dim light. Even Moira's guard couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, wondering if this could possibly be the same girl that had stepped into that room minutes before.

"Oh my! You certainly know how to make an entrance," Moira grinned wickedly from behind the counter. "You look like you could take on the whole Capital Wasteland yourself!"

Amata felt her cheeks flush as she smiled at the compliment. It would take some getting used to wearing anything other than a Vault suit, but she was sure she could manage.

"I've got the rest of your stuff ready in your pack so you should be set to go when Jayck gets back. Where did he run off to anyhow?" Moira asked with a tilt of her head.

"Sheriff Simms warned him about some guys that were around looking for him so he went to…take care of them," Amata finished quietly.

"Oh, someone's finally taking care of those Talon Company goons, are they? Good for him," Moira's smile concealed the venom in her words that caught Amata completely off guard.

"They really are some bad guys, aren't they?" Amata asked. "Talon Company, I mean."

"Dearie, they aren't just bad guys. There's not a single one of those mercenaries that isn't rotten to the core. That said, I do feel a tad sorry for them. There aren't many people that Jayck hates more than Talon Company. And if there's one place in this world I never want to be, it's in that boy's crosshairs."


	13. Talon Company

Talon Company had been after Jayck ever since he started working with the Brotherhood of Steel. Certain people had paid them handsomely to make sure that he was never allowed to work with the Brotherhood to further Project Purity. But now none of that mattered. By raiding their compound and killing Commander Jabsco, Jayck had made their job into a personal vendetta. The group of mercenaries that had been hunting around Megaton for him was made of scattered remnants that had escaped the assault on their home. Now they finally had his scent and had him trapped in the outdoor ruins of Springvale Elementary.

Jayck knew that the Talon mercs would be vicious, because they always were. What he didn't expect was for them to be exceptionally well armed and cunning in their attack instead of charging in head-first in a vengeful rage. Most Talon Company he'd engaged before had been armed with assault rifles, with the occasional sniper or missile launcher acting as support. This group must have salvaged every scrap of weaponry left over from the raid because they seemed to have all that and more. The icy chill in his blood came not from the arsenal he was facing, but from the obvious tactical planning that dictated their every move.

Normally, the mercenaries would have thrown everything they had into their opening volley, opting for shock and awe tactics over attrition. Instead, the two missile launchers hid in cover amongst at least two snipers amongst the rubble of Springvale. On the ground were four more mercenaries in front of a boarded up house, three armed with assault rifles and the fourth lobbing a constant stream of explosives at the wall of the school Jayck was hiding in. Occasionally one would make it inside through the fractured sections and would detonate with an exceptionally deafening blast that would echo through the exposed area of the school and chip away at Jayck's durable power armor bit by bit.

The way the entire group staggered their attacks told Jayck that there was a clear leader amongst them, but they were still amateurs at sustained engagements. They had successfully pinned Jayck in a corner of the rubble, but had given him enough time to notice a pattern in their volleys. They would fire from left to right, but still never gave him a chance to move. Jayck had decided to keep Dogmeat nearby and have him guarding the entrances behind them that led up the stairs to their position.

Jayck set down his sniper on the ground. He hadn't had a chance to get off a single shot and he was running out of time. He reached into his bag and pulled out a special Nuka-Cola grenade that he'd been saving for some time. He knew he would only have seconds after activating it to get rid of the explosive so he waited until he heard the whistling of the second missile and triggered it just before the jarring impact. Using the dust from the explosion as cover, Jayck burst up and hurled the grenade at the group of Talon Company on the ground, using his V.A.T.S. to ensure the throw was true. It exploded on contact with the ground in the middle of the group in a beautiful bloom of blue fire and radiation. The shack beside them shuddered from the blast and began to burn, a pillar of black smoke climbing high into the sky. The growing roar of the flames did little to drown out the screams of burning men.

One panicked voice remained after the others had succumbed to the flames before a second explosion silenced it. The eruption engulfed the side of the shack in a blinding flash of green, tongues of plasma consuming any perishable materials they touched.

An eerie silence fell over the skirmish as both sides waited for the other to make a move. He wind shifted and blew the smoke and dust from the fires up to Jayck's vantage point, blinding him as to what was going on below. Using the impenetrable smoke as cover, Jayck ducked out from behind the wall and made his way to the stairs down to the ground level. A silent gesture to Dogmeat and his companion followed Jayck down to the ground.

Dogmeat's ears perked up at noises coming from outside the battered concrete walls. Jayck reached for the combat shotgun he'd stashed below and thumbed off the safety, a shell already waiting in the chamber. A quick nod towards the empty window was all the instruction Dogmeat needed to bound through it and circle around the right side of the building, looking for survivors. Jayck watched out the holes in the concrete as four Talon mercs approached the blast site, two emerging from their cover on the sides of the burning building.

Suddenly, a blur of claws and fangs flashed out from behind the corner of the school building and had knocked down the two mercenaries on the right before tearing at their exposed throats. Time seemed to slow to a still for Jayck. He burst from behind the standing section of wall and focused on the two Talon Company to his left. He trusted Dogmeat to be able to hold his own for the moment.

As he leveled his shotgun with the first mercenary's head, Jayck's senses took in everything around him. The acrid smell of smoke thick in the air, the sickening, sweet scent of burnt flesh, and the crackling of the fiery fingers that were slowly coercing the building into falling. He felt the minute muscle movement in his finger that pulled the trigger a fraction of a second before the shotgun blast reduced his target's head to a red mist. Blood, brains, and fragments of bone peppered the second mercenary, startling him and giving Jayck the split second he needed to sweep his aim across and fire again. The weapon roared and blasted the man in the chest, knocking him on his back. Knowing Talon Company's love for combat armor, Jayck sprinted over and unloaded two more shells into the man, reducing his chest cavity to a gory pulp.

Turning back to Dogmeat, Jayck was too late to dodge the missile that collided directly with his chest. The force of the blast forced him back, but he kept his feet. Alarms whined in Jayck's helmet, displaying the damage his power armor had taken from the impact. The sustained explosions before had done more damage than he'd thought and another hit like that would tear through the metal remnants of his armor as if they were paper. Stepping forward out of the smoke, Jayck saw that only one mercenary was still alive. His partner was lying in a pool of his own blood, his throat a shredded mess. Dogmeat was nowhere to be seen.

With no time to worry about his companion, Jayck hastily aimed his shotgun from his hip and pulled the trigger. He was horrified to hear the dry _click_ of the gun jamming in place of the metallic roar he had expected. The remaining mercenary grinned cruelly at his second chance and finished reloading his missile launcher before shouldering the hefty weapon and taking aim.

Jayck dropped the worthless gun and drew his pistol, aiming as quickly as he could. It wasn't fast enough. As the mercenary fired his vengeful round, a set of vicious fangs closed around his calf, causing him to roar back in pain. The rocket went wild and flew out of Springvale and into the hills beyond. Jayck took his chance and fired three rapid shots into the man's unprotected skull. Each round disappeared into a glistening crimson wound before the mercenary fell unceremoniously to the ground.

Jayck attempted to slow his breathing, but it was difficult to do with the adrenaline coursing through his veins. A quick count of the fallen around him totaled eight bodies, but Jayck couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't done yet. He kept his pistol drawn, moving from body to body and putting a final round into each of their skulls. Experience had taught him to never assume an enemy was dead until he was positive.

Peering through the smoke from the burning house, Jayck saw a scorched hole blasted through the side of the squat shack, likely where the mercenary had been storing the rest of his grenades. Jayck loaded a fresh magazine into his pistol and stepped through the dark room. He dialed on the light on his Pip-Boy to try to cut through the haze, but its effect was minimal at best. Any light in the room came in from the hole in the wall and between the pried-apart slats of a boarded up window facing the school.

Barely visible through the murky light lay a body half covered in shadows. Jayck raised his pistol and stalked towards the still form, his eyes burning from the smoke seeping into his helmet. As he neared, his Pip-Boy illuminated a dark pool around the mercenary's head, likely flowing from a hidden wound caused by debris from the blast. Jayck put two rounds into the man's skull, his heart racing once more after a loud yelp escaped the feigning man before he fell truly silent.

Smoke now filled the room completely and the ceiling was turning to embers, about to cave in. Jayck climbed outside the house through the hole and began searching the bodies for anything that he could use. He wasn't fond of looting the dead, regardless of who they were, but reasoned that they didn't need their gear anymore so why waste it. The fact that they were Talon Company admittedly helped some though. After he'd finished searching the corpses, Jayck began to toss them into the burning house. Sheriff Simms hated people leaving anything around that would attract scavengers to the areas around Megaton. Dogmeat returned to the road carrying Jayck's sniper rifle from where he'd left it in the ruins and waited patiently for his partner to finish his task before the two of them began the trek back to town.

Jayck's ears were still ringing from the explosion when he heard the building collapse behind them and felt the heat of the red fire on his back, even through his armor. He imagined the black plume of smoke growing higher and higher in the bright afternoon sky. The alarms in his helmet had gone silent, but there was no mistaking the damage he'd suffered during the fight. He would not be able to use his power armor to get to the Citadel, which meant it would be that much more difficult to protect Amata. Still, he knew they would find a way to make it to the Brotherhood's headquarters. They had no other choice. There were too many people depending on them for failure to be an option.


	14. A Change of Plans

Amata returned to Jayck's house from Craterside Supply laden with her new gear. It was certainly heavier than a Vault suit, but that did bring a certain sense of security with it. Amata set her old things and her fully stocked pack against the lockers on the wall before deciding to have a look around the place. Feeling thirsty, she walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge to see if there were any more Nuka-Colas left. Her face fell when she only found the food Jayck had mentioned earlier. She closed the door and went to the sink, grabbing a glass from the surprisingly organized shelf. As she filed the glass, Amata noticed how much dirtier the water was than what they had in the Vault. Before she could take a drink, a metallic voice from behind startled her and nearly made her drop the glass.

"I wouldn't drink that if I were you, ma'am," it said. Amata spun around to see a Mister Handy unit floating lazily in the entry to the kitchen. The robot's exterior looked extremely well cared for, especially when compared to everything else Amata had seen since she'd arrived.

"Oh…ok," said Amata as she warily poured the water down the drain. "And who are you?"

"I am Wadsworth, Mister Handy unit to Master Jayck. And you would be Miss Amata, if I'm not mistaken. I was upstairs when you and Sir were here earlier," the robot answered before Amata could ask why she hadn't seen him yet.

"Well, aren't you an observant one?" Amata said admiringly, placing her hands on her hips. "You're certainly far more capable than our Mister Handy back in Vault 101."

"Why, thank you, Miss. I do perform many chores while Sir is away, one of which is preparing purified water for when he returns," Wadsworth said proudly. "Can't have him getting radiation poisoning from that tap water. If you'd follow me upstairs, I'd be happy to show you where it's kept."

"Please, lead the way," Amata accepted. The robot's upper half spun to face the living room before floating out and up the stairs with Amata trailing close behind.

"Of course, this task has become far simpler with the arrivals of the water caravans," Wadsworth said. He reached out a claw and opened the door of a fridge bearing the Nuka-Cola colors that sat on a balcony overlooking the main room. Cold air cascaded out of the open door and Amata gratefully took out a bottle that was chilling to the touch. She took a greedy gulp and was sent into a coughing fit, causing Wadsworth to float closer in concern.

"Miss Amata, are you alright?" the robot asked. It shifted uncertainly in the air as the young woman's coughs mingled with laughter.

"I'm ok," she wheezed, trying to get her breath back with tears forming in her eyes. "It's just much colder than I thought it would be. Everything out here's been so dead and dry."

"Yes, the side effects of a nuclear war, I'm afraid," Wadsworth said in a dry tone worthy of his posh British accent. "If you'll excuse me, ma'am, I need to prepare the infirmary there. I've just been notified that Master Jayck has returned and if his past encounters with those Talon ruffians are anything to go by, he will probably need the assistance."

"But he had all that armor on! What on earth could get through that?" Amata asked, a knot forming in the pit of her stomach. Before Wadsworth could answer, the door opened downstairs to reveal a suit of power armor that looked as if it had been dredged up from the pits of hell.

"Oh my God," Amata gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth. Through the window of singed, splintered steel and exposed wiring, the bloody chest wound that had soaked everything below it was clearly visible. Jayck and Dogmeat made their way inside and closed the door before Jayck dropped his guns on the table and popped his helmet off. He slowly looked around in dazed confusion before glancing up and spotting the pair of them.

"I see you two've met," Jayck grimaced, sucking in air in silent agony when he lowered his arms and dropped the helmet unceremoniously. "Wadsworth, do we have any stimpacks up there?"

"Of course, Sir," the Mister Handy replied, quickly hovering to the table and grabbing the medicine before hurrying downstairs. Amata also descended the stairs, but slowly as she wondered how her friend was still walking with a wound like that, let alone almost speaking as if he were fine.

"How many of those have you used, Jayck?" she asked worriedly.

"These will make five… or six? Can't quite remember," Jayck sighed in relief as he injected the medicine. "Could you help me out of this armor? It'll make actually treating this a lot easier."

"Of course," said Amata. She still needed a few instructions from Jayck, but she remembered the task from inside the Vault. A minute later, the steel shell lay crumpled on the floor and the wound was exposed to the full view of all. Miraculously, the power armor chest plate had taken the brunt of the impact and only the skin beneath had been torn and burned, but the amount of blood he'd lost was still concerning.

"I really need to stop getting shot," Jayck breathed through a grimace as he injected another stimpack and applied the extra medicine Wadsworth had fetched. The medicine worked rapidly and continued to speed the healing process, but its capabilities weren't infinite and Jayck knew that.

"Most would think that goes without saying, Sir," Wadsworth chided. Jayck nodded in agreement and sat down on the wooden bench, reclining with his back on the table. He drew in and let out a long, deep breath to calm himself.

"We can't leave for the Citadel today," he said plainly, but with an apologetic tone. His eyes were fixed on the ceiling. "I should be ok to travel tomorrow, but the medicine is going to need time to set me right again."

"It really is hard to be precise in the Wasteland, isn't it?" Amata asked through misty eyes and a choked laugh. "Of course we can take the extra day, you idiot."

"Awesome," Jayck breathed with a weak smile, as he slowly pushed himself up. "Wadsworth, would you tell Simms that the Talon mercs have been dealt with?"

"Of course, Sir. Would you like help up the stairs? You could do with a rest right now."

"You're right, but I think Amata can handle getting me there," said Jayck. Feigning exasperation with a shake of her head, Amata moved to Jayck's right side, placed his arm over her shoulders, and held his torso close to hers to support his ascent up the stairs.

Jayck pointed her to the left and opened the door into a small room, sparsely decorated with a desk covered with Nuka Cola bottles and a large stack of papers, some rusty filing cabinets, and an untidy bed stuck against the far wall. They awkwardly hobbled towards the bed and sat Jayck down on it. He lied down while Amata pulled the chair over and sat down, looking around the room.

"You really have made a life for yourself out here, haven't you?" she asked quietly.

"Mhmm," Jayck murmured quietly. "Should take a look at that book there," he yawned with a stretch that ended in a pained gasp and eyes screwed shut. Amata started forward at the noise, but sat down again when Jayck waved away the help.

"Just need to be careful," he sucked through his teeth. "The uh…medicine is starting to kick in…have a look through the…guide…it's almost finished, but Moira…" Jayck couldn't finish the thought before the drugs swayed him into unconsciousness. Amata watched as the subtle signs of enduring unbelievable pain were washed away with sleep. She rolled the chair over to the desk, against the rusty protest of the wheels and the whining of the steel, and picked up the mass of pages, loosely bound together and titled in black marker: _The Wasteland Survival Guide_. Curious what the cheerful woman had to say about the harsh world outside Megaton, Amata opened the guide's worn, stained pages and began reading while her friend slept soundly.


End file.
